A forgotten fragment of Australia's past inspires a powerful new novel ... It is 1899, and one of the fiercest storms in history is brewing - a hurricane named Mahina. to a remote part of the Queensland coast come the hundreds of sails of the northern pearling fleets, and a native policeman trying to solve a murder. Nearly two thousand men, women and children are gathering around Cape Melville, right in the path of the storm that is about to cause Australia's deadliest natural disaster. Based on real events, this is the story of an unstoppable force of nature and the birth and death of an Australian dream. Praise for Affection: 'a literary tour de force' the Australian 'this is strong stuff. the oppressive humidity of townsville seems almost to drip from the page and lends Affection a hypnotic, dreamlike quality that is hard to shake ... an astonishing novel' Vogue 'a bona fide page-turner' Sydney Morning Herald